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White Supremacist Nick Fuentes Calls for “Holy War” Against Jews

The far-right influencer, who once sat down for dinner with Donald Trump, made the comments at an “America First” rally.

Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
White supremacist Nick Fuentes speaks to America First protesters in New York City on November 13, 2021.

“We’re in a holy war. And I will tell you this: Because we’re willing to die in the holy war, we will make them die in the holy war.”

This is what neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes, who had dinner with Republican front-runner Donald Trump less than one year ago, said at an “America First” rally in West Palm Beach on Sunday.

“They will go down—we have God on our side—and they will go down with their Satanic master,” he continued. “They have no future in America. The enemies of Christ have no future in this world.”

Again, Fuentes had dinner with Trump in Florida last November. Neither Trump nor DeSantis—nor most of the Republican Party, for that matter—criticized Fuentes after learning what he stands for.

Fuentes’s comments on Sunday were livestreamed to some 5,000 people on Rumble. It’s unclear how many people were actually in the crowd, but in-person tickets for the rally went at $50 a pop, with $1,000 netting guests a special private dinner too. And the room of largely socially isolated boys with apparently nothing better to spend their money on roared in applause at Fuentes’s pledge to “make them die in the holy war.”

Elsewhere in the rally, Fuentes kicked out a heckler who questioned his previous support for far-right conspiracy theorist and January 6–inciter Ali Alexander, who allegedly propositioned teenage boys for sex and solicited nude photos and videos from them.

“Oh, security, get him out,” Fuentes said, with his finger pointed, unsurprisingly not engaging with the question. “Thank you, everybody,” Fuentes said to the crowd, appreciating the mob’s boos to drown out the uncomfortable inquiry.

Fellow far-right streamer Ethan Ralph—who was convicted of disseminating “revenge porn” of the mother of his child and ex-girlfriend, and separately is on bad terms with Fuentes—claimed that there were “36 cars total at Fuentes Rally 2 lmfao,” guessing there were about “144 ppl.”

Meanwhile, the rally seems to have, perhaps, given others some concern too. “!!” Elon Musk replied to a tweet with screenshots of the event’s comment section on Rumble.

The comments included remarks such as, “HITLER FAILED US BY NOT FINISHING THE JOB,” “WITHOUT LIES ISLAM DIES,” and “Jew rapists,” as well as eager use of a vicious slur against Jewish people.

But given the content, one may wish Musk’s consequent amplification of the tweet would’ve included more explicit concern than just an exclamation.

Fuentes’s comments, of course, are not aberrant. Fuentes was previously banned from social media outlets for violent rhetoric about people of color, women, Jewish people, immigrants, LGBTQ people, Covid-19, and much more. He has also proudly said he’s “just like Hitler” (whom he has also called “a pedophile … also really fucking cool”), and that “Catholic monarchy, and just war, and crusades, and inquisitions” are much better than democracy.

Such a character is set to be headlining a College Republicans convention at the end of July.

Inside Trump’s Fascist Plan to Control All Federal Agencies if He Wins

Trump has a detailed plan to consolidate power if he retakes the White House.

Donald Trump
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Donald Trump is planning to completely overhaul how the government works if he wins the 2024 presidential election, which would clear the way for him to do pretty much whatever he wants.

“What we’re trying to do is identify the pockets of independence and seize them,” Russell Vought, who ran the Office of Management and Budget under Trump, told The New York Times.

One of the central parts of Trump’s fascist plan to consolidate power is to bring independent agencies under presidential control, including the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates television and internet companies, and the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces antitrust law and consumer protection rules.

But that’s not all: Trump also wants to be able to impound funds, meaning refuse to spend money appropriated for programs he doesn’t like. The tactic was banned under Richard Nixon, but Trump insists on his campaign website that presidents have a constitutional right to impound funds. He says he will reinstate the practice, even though it could spark a lengthy legal battle.

He also plans to eliminate employment protections for tens of thousands of civil servants, making them easier to replace. He would then purge intelligence agencies, the State Department, and the defense agencies of officials whom he has deemed members of “the sick political class that hates our country.”

Trump has already said he would launch a criminal investigation into President Joe Biden if he takes back the White House. But his new plans would go a step further and centralize power under the executive branch.

It’s unclear just how much of this Trump would get away with. Congress could pass laws to block him, and many of his plans would certainly get locked up in the court system. But the point is less whether he can succeed and more that Trump is willing to do absolutely anything to get and stay in power.

He has already shown a willingness to act with impunity. Trump repeatedly claimed that presidents can declassify materials whenever they want, “even by thinking about it.” And now, even after he’s been federally indicted for allegedly mishandling classified documents, he still insists he’s done nothing wrong.

“Textbook Billionaire Scam”: Harlan Crow Cut Tax Bill With Clarence Thomas Gifts

The billionaire Republican megadonor seems to have used the Supreme Court justice’s yacht trips to lower his own tax bill.

Harlan Crow
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Harlan Crow

Turns out that billionaire Harlan Crow’s relentless gift-showering (read: warm, beautiful friendship) toward Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wasn’t enough on its own—it was also part of a tax break bonanza for the Republican megadonor.

Once again, ProPublica has revealed even more troubling details about the billionaire’s shady dealings with one of the most powerful members of the U.S. government. It seems that Crow has, for years, likely pretended that his 162-foot yacht, the Michaela Rose, was a chartering business in order to avoid paying taxes—and Thomas’s voyages on the ship helped maintain the facade.

Decades ago, Crow and his family had formed a company, Rochelle Charter Inc., in order to lease out their superyacht, ProPublica details. And from data between 2003 to 2015, the company reported losing money in 10 of the 13 years; the net losses reached nearly $8 million, with about half flowing to Harlan himself. The deductions helped the family offset income elsewhere, saving the Crows from paying taxes. The pattern echoes what billionaires often do with their private jets (which, of course, was another vehicle used by Crow to taxi Thomas and the justice’s family around the world).

The yacht tax breaks, among other loopholes, enabled Crow to pay an average income tax rate of 15 percent during the time period, lower than that of many middle-class workers in America.

The kicker is that while these sorts of deductions can only be had by a purported business operator, it doesn’t seem like the Michaela Rose was a legitimate business pursuit. ProPublica spoke to about a dozen former crew members of the ship, and none of them said they were aware of the superyacht ever being chartered. Cross-checking that with schedules for three different years, the boat seemingly was only ever used to cruise Crow’s family, friends, and executives of his company around.

And that’s not all. As recently as 2019, an attorney representing the supposed yacht chartering company, Rochelle Carter, filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Success with such an application requires basic things like, you know, showing that the Michaela Rose was actually being used commercially.

The attorney attached a brochure as proof. “This magnificent yacht has cruised the oceans of the world with a graceful and gentle motion found only on the most superior seagoing vessels,” the pamphlet said, boasting of the boat’s “fine, seakindly hull” and “mahogany paneled formal dining room” that seats 16. But, ProPublica notes, it said nothing about chartering.

The USPTO was, naturally, not satisfied, up until the attorney provided new supposed evidence—screenshots from websites like Superyachts.com and LiveYachting.com, showing “links and references to yacht ‘Charter’ services offered in connection with Applicant’s MICHAELA ROSE mark,” according to the attorney. The USPTO caved and approved the trademark. As ProPublica points out, neither website actually guarantees that the ship was a business. The former hosts profiles for hundreds of ships—regardless of whether they can be chartered. The latter just encouraged users to contact a broker to find out if a boat could be chartered.

“Based on what information is available, this has the look of a textbook billionaire tax scam,” Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden told ProPublica. “These new details only raise more questions about Mr. Crow’s tax practices, which could begin to explain why he’s been stonewalling the Finance Committee’s investigation for months.”

Such a scandal adds to the Mount Everest of malfeasance festering within Crow and Thomas. Thomas has received secret and lavish gifts for decades from the Nazi memorabilia–collecting billionaire and GOP donor Harlan Crow, including luxurious island-hopping excursions on superyachts, tuition payments for his grandnephew’s private schooling, and even a secret deal in which Crow bought Thomas family property and proceeded to upgrade it while Thomas’s mother still lived in it. Separately, meanwhile, Thomas’s aide collected Venmo payments, allegedly for a “Christmas Party” hosted by the justice, from a string of high-rolling lawyers with cases before the Supreme Court.

Things Are So Bad, Republicans Fear Fistfight Between Boebert and Taylor Greene

Republican lawmakers predict the two representatives will come to blows. It’s just a matter of when.

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Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (right) and Lauren Boebert

The blood between Representatives Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene has gotten so bad that their colleagues are worried the two will get into a fistfight “at any moment.”

The once–work besties have been at each other’s throats for months, with Greene calling Boebert a “little bitch” on the House floor and Boebert voting to oust Greene from the House Freedom Caucus. And things are nowhere close to settling down.

“A fistfight could break out at any moment,” Tennessee Representative Tim Burchett told The Daily Beast.

He then creepily added that, as a fan of professional wrestling, “it’s entertaining to think that a fistfight could break out at any movement. I kind of dig that.”

Another Republican lawmaker told The Daily Beast that while it’s certain the two women will eventually attack each other, it’s unclear who will win. “They will be nailing that coffin shut,” the lawmaker said, “and one of them is still in there kicking and screaming!”

Greene and Boebert seemed to be good friends when they both first arrived on Capitol Hill, but they have since ruptured pretty spectacularly. They first began to diverge over continuing aid for Ukraine: Boebert supported it, while Greene was opposed.

Greene has also ingratiated herself with establishment Republicans, although both women still embrace far-right beliefs. Things came to a head during the interminable vote for speaker of the House in January. The pair reportedly got into a massive argument in a Capitol bathroom, when Greene accused Boebert of taking money from McCarthy for her reelection campaign but then refusing to vote for him for speaker.

But things started to get really ugly in June, when Boebert introduced articles of impeachment against Joe Biden under a privileged resolution, meaning there had to be a vote on the measure within two days (the measure ultimately was referred to a committee and is still there). Greene had introduced articles of impeachment against Biden in May, which have also yet to go anywhere. Greene publicly accused Boebert of copying her articles and ended up confronting her colleague on the House floor.

“I’ve donated to you, I’ve defended you. But you’ve been nothing but a little bitch to me,” Greene reportedly told Boebert in the middle of the House floor. “And you copied my articles of impeachment after I asked you to co-sponsor them.”

Boebert got her revenge a few weeks later, when she voted alongside the majority of the House’s far-right contingent to boot Greene from the Freedom Caucus. Greene’s comments to Boebert were apparently a major factor in the group’s decision.

This may bite the caucus in the butt, though. Greene was a strong fundraiser for the group, and she has proven to be a powerful influence among establishment Republicans. She could easily turn the rest of the GOP against the caucus.

Angling for V.P., Iowa Gov Signs Abortion Ban at Event With 2024 Hopefuls

Kim Reynolds banned nearly all abortions in her state and turned the whole thing into a political spectacle.

Scott Olson/Getty Images
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signs into law a six-week abortion ban, during the Family Leadership Summit on July 14 in Des Moines.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds on Friday signed into law a six-week abortion ban, turning it into a political spectacle at a conservative summit with several 2024 hopefuls, in a move widely seen as a bid for vice president.

She held the signing ceremony at the conservative Family Leadership Summit, where 2024 Republican candidates including Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Asa Hutchinson, and Vivek Ramaswamy were interviewed by erstwhile Fox News host Tucker Carlson earlier in the day. (Ron DeSantis is also on deck.)

Reynolds saw this as the perfect opportunity to make a show of taking away people’s health care, signing the bill on a stage with dozens of people.

State lawmakers passed the radical ban, which targets people before they know they are pregnant, overnight Tuesday, after Reynolds called a special session with the sole purpose of banning abortion. The new law is hugely unpopular, with hundreds of Iowans showing up at the state Capitol to protest the bill as it was being debated.

Many suspect that Reynolds is vying for a vice presidential nod. During testimony on Tuesday, one constituent called her out for using the abortion ban to “score political points.”

The law will ban nearly all abortions in Iowa. It technically makes exceptions for rape, but only if the attack is reported to law enforcement or a health provider within 45 days. There are also exceptions for incest and for cases where the fetus is nonviable or the pregnancy puts the patient’s life at risk. However, as reporter Jessica Valenti pointed out, the rules for an exception could put the patient’s life further at risk.

Even if a patient is miscarrying, they can only get an abortion if the fetus’s heartbeat has stopped. In many cases, waiting for fetal demise is what causes patients to develop sepsis.

Although the law goes into effect immediately, it could be blocked in a matter of days. A group that includes the ACLU of Iowa, Planned Parenthood North Central States, and local abortion provider the Emma Goldman Clinic sued to block the law the day after it passed the state legislature. A district court judge said he hoped to issue a ruling on Monday.

The lawsuit asks the court to assess the abortion ban’s constitutionality. Reynolds had previously signed a six-week abortion ban in 2018, but that measure was struck down the following year in the courts. After Roe v. Wade was overturned, Reynolds asked the courts to reinstate the 2018 ban, but the state Supreme Court was deadlocked on the issue and left a law banning abortion after 20 weeks in place. The new law could be struck down in the same manner as the first six-week ban.